


a good man

by poalimal



Category: Black Panther (2018), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Fake Legal Theory, Gen, Prisons in Paradise, What Shall We Do About W'Kabi?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 11:15:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13786389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poalimal/pseuds/poalimal
Summary: Where in this country is the King not welcome?





	a good man

**Author's Note:**

> A note on the stiffness of the diction here: they're not actually speaking English, but Xhosa.

 

W'Kabi has hardly finished his breakfast before the King comes to see him. The King does not request entry, as no door is closed to him - but he is surprised that W'Kabi is not alone.

'O my King,' says Vuyisile warmly, standing up when he stops short, 'truly you are welcome in this place! How do you fare?'

'I am well, Intervenor,' says the King. His eyes are fixed on W'Kabi, who has remained seated. 'And I know that I am welcome.'

Ah - these young men! Vuyisile laughs. 'Of course,' she says, clasping her hands, 'where in this country is the King not welcome? All things we give our King.'

'All things except your loyalty, evidently,' says the King, directly to W'Kabi, 'as you now claim you have committed no crime at all.'

 _We see and we sing_ , says the Witness. Frustrated, the King redirects his attention to Vuyisile.

'But my King, the crime before the council is treason,' she says, arching her tone to perfect bafflement. 'The people know the Resting King N'Jadaka won the throne honourably, through ritual combat. When First King Bashenga implemented the council, he divined that the word of the King must come from the people--'

'But the King and the people do not always agree,' the King says. Quite a gift for understatement he has!

Vuyisile inclines her head. 'No - but that is why the council exists. As the King intervenes between the people and the council as the voice _of_ the people, so too does the council intervene between the King and the people, when the King-- shall we say? _Mishears_ them.' She opens her arms wide, smiling kindly. 'And so do I intervene between you and the council, and W'Kabi.' She dips her head. 'My King.'

A different King would see the second barrier raised by the very act of sitting on the same council meant to advocate for the people - but King T'Challa, like the Resting King N'Jadaka before him, does not see this. Instead he says, 'you know this is no small crime, W'Kabi - the blood of our people waits at your feet. I will not look the other way.'

W'Kabi does not reply. _We see_ , the Witness reminds the King, _and we sing_.

'My King,' says Vuyisile delicately, 'I fear there has been a confusion. The council is meant to intervene between the King and the people - but the people know the council did not decry the Resting King N'Jadaka's rule. For the people to submit to the council, the council must submit to the people.

'But the council did _not_ resist the Resting King N'Jadaka, so the people must conclude it was a good thing that they did not resist him, either.' As far as the King is aware, that is. 'Any actions W'Kabi committed during the Resting King N'Jadaka's rule were therefore those of a loyal citizen, dedicated to the protection of the Wakandan king.'

'W'Kabi, I beg you,' says the King, 'stop this madness.' Madness? Is that what he calls it? 'You spurred your men to kill me before I could wrest the throne back from Killmonger!'

 _One time, two times, three times_ , sings the Witness, _we mark the steps the King makes upon our song. We see_ \--

'Will you not ask them to leave!' the King says. The Witness whistles loudly in warning. Warily, Vuyisile watches the knife on their wrist unlock. Is a Witness truly a Witness, she wonders, if they do not know how to make everyone around them flinch?

The King closes his eyes briefly and lowers his voice. 'W'Kabi. You and I were as brothers once - we can work this out another way.'

Another way, a better way--so often these past few weeks, the young King has used these phrases. How fond Vuyisile is of him! And yet he calls her work madness.

'If my brother showed half the weakness that you do,' W'Kabi says, interrupting her musings, 'I would kill him where he stood, blood upon my feet.'

Vuyisile holds back a sigh. One of the hazards of intervening for the young, she supposes: they do take everything so personally.

The King makes a wretched face. 'You sit in this place built by the mothers of my mothers as an act of _my_ mercy, and you call it weakness?'

W'Kabi laughs. 'You do not fool me, King,' he says. 'It is hesitation, not mercy, that you show. We now know that your hand can be forced to anything at all.'

Who is this 'we'? Vuyisile wonders. For W'Kabi ever keeps to his own counsel.

'Have you always been this way, W'Kabi?' asks the King quietly. 'And only I never knew?'

'You have only ever seen what you wanted to see,' says W'Kabi, dipping his head sarcastically, 'my King.' And then he turns his face to the window. He is done listening.

'Forgive me,' Vuyisile interrupts, 'I would speak with W'Kabi more, my King.' She would very much like to figure out who his 'we' is. 'But I am very sorry to see you go.'

'Intervenor,' says the King, exasperated, 'I did not aim to leave.'

'Yes,' Vuyisile agrees, 'and that is why I am very sorry that you must.'

The King narrows his eyes between her and W'Kabi - then all at once he sighs. He shakes his head. 'I think,' he says, 'you will come to regret doing things this way.'

 _With our ears and our eyes_ , says the Witness, _we know you, King_.

'No, my King,' says Vuyisile, standing between him and W'Kabi with a smile, 'I think you shall.'

 

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from T'Chaka's words to T'Challa: 'You are a good man, with a good heart - and it is hard for a good man to be King.'
> 
> Oh, also - the answer to the question is 'prison' - the King is not welcome in prison.


End file.
